Biographical Note

The Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association (GLATA) began in 1951 when the first meeting of the GLATA Board of Directors was held in Kansas City, Missouri. GLATA was one of nine regional organizations with ties to the newly organized National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), formed in 1950. The NATA is the professional membership association for certified athletic trainers and others who support the athletic training profession. GLATA, designated as the District 4 regional branch of NATA, comprises the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. After many efforts to organize athletic trainers within these states, the first annual GLATA Meeting and Symposium was held in 1968 at Denison College in Granville, Ohio. From its inception, the NATA and its regional branches have worked towards unifying certified athletic trainers and providing a standard for education, professionalism, certification, research and practice. Formerly housed in Lafayette, Indiana, and then Greenville, North Carolina, today the NATAs headquarters are in Dallas, Texas. Membership (as of 2006) is approximately 30,000 individuals.

As one of ten independently operating districts within the NATA, the GLATAs mission is to enhance the quality of health care for the physically active, promote the athletic trainer and advance the profession of athletic training through education and research in the prevention, evaluation, management and rehabilitation of injuries. GLATA has experienced a steady growth in membership and programming since the late 1980s. GLATA is believed to be the first NATA District to archive its records. GLATA donated its records to Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, in 2006. Purdue was chosen as the site for the GLATA records in order to honor William E. (Pinky) Newell, athletic trainer at Purdue from 1949-1976, who is considered the father of athletic training in the United States.